Index: Knight of a New History
by SciFi Maker
Summary: As Touma lay dying in the middle of a frozen nowhere, he suddenly wakes up in his home believing he had a nightmare. But he finds a world changed by history: WW2 was longer, Academy City doesn't exist, and the world is practically dominated by a unilateral power called the A4. Facing a new, different, dangerous world, how will his presence affect the future?
1. Trailer

**Hello, everyone. My progress is a little slow on A Certain World Superpower. Since I'll be working on this story after I'm finished with ACWS, and I only have a short amount of time this week, I'm giving you something of a trailer that I based of Batman: Arkham Knight. Of course, this is only a prototype to the total plot and scenes are subject to change or removal. Enjoy!**

* * *

(Trailer)

A U.S. Special Forces soldier adjusts the straps of his helmet and a set of night vision goggles is attached.

_For the hero..._

Several V-44 QTRs enter VTOL over the rising plumes of smoke. A vertical stabilizer underneath the tail wing shows the symbol of a dark-red hollowed square angled 45 degrees with four white stars on a black background arranged within, aligned with the corners. The camera pans down as an Eagle drone passes over a building being secured by several soldiers lowered down from a V-280 Valor.

_... the only true conclusion..._

The camera points straight down to view the streets, showing several crashed cars and destroyed tanks. The screen switches to follow as a Japanese police officer makes way to a group of injured civilians.

_... is death._

Air raid sirens are heard throughout the scenes. A brief flash of satellites armed with nuclear weapons appears for a short moment. The label on the top end says "A4." Touma is briefly shown falling to his knees after being shot through the stomach by a rogue bullet. Next screen, an unmasked soldier with high rank quickly draws his pistol and fires near the screen, before flashing to a heavily armored juggernaut firing a minigun attached to the right arm of his armored exoskeleton, several soldiers ready behind him. The screen switches over to a city in flames, multiple mushroom clouds rising into the sky, with multiple projectiles raining down from orbit. A Chinese flag is visible in the chaos for a second before the smoke obstructs it from view.

_The hero does not cower to death._

The camera circles around Touma atop of a skyscraper overlooking Tokyo in a third world status. The screen switches to a room where several commanders from different nations including a few commanders from China, a former commander from Iran and two insurgent leaders are gathered. All slowly turn to look at the screen.

_For that would belittle life._

The screen switches over to a slow motion shot of a group of Special Forces soldiers walking with two high ranking officers in the lead, one on the left wearing a blue beret with the aforementioned symbol on the VTOL, and the one on the right being the unmasked high ranking soldier from before. Several V-44's are being unloaded in the background.

_The hero knows he cannot defeat danger..._

Several Abrams tanks fire across the street, attacking invading forces. One of the invading soldiers takes cover behind a flipped car. The Abrams tanks are flying a scaled down black flag with a dark red hollowed square, with "A4" printed in white inside with the square surrounded by four white stars.

_... but for a moment, he can free others from_ fear.

Japanese citizens gather around a jumbotron just above the entrance to a corporate building, where the news is displaying the U.S. President stating his message of a declaration of war, but the scene fades to black before he says against whom. The screen switches to Touma charging towards a closing door, but the exit is suddenly blown open by a cruise missile from the outside, knocking Touma to the ground.

_Let those left behind find hope in his sacrifice..._

Touma gathers with several soldiers around a screen showing Japan's situation. The scene switches to Touma bleeding out somewhere in the Arctic.

_Let those who knew him well speak of his undying loyalty, unstoppable persistence and when the time came, his ultimate willingness to give all..._

Itsuwa and the remnants of the Amakusa Church are shown looking towards the stormy skies above. The scene switches to several Japanese police officers making their way through the halls of the station. The next scene shows Touma back to back with a U.S. Special Forces soldier whom are both surrounded by several enemy soldiers armed only with melee weapons. Touma dodges a rushing military jeep retreating towards several tanks of Chinese design before several Abrams tanks quickly arrive and destroy the jeep along with the Chinese tanks in quick succession. Touma is shown from the side as he looks towards the carnage.

_Legends live on..._

Touma has his arm over his face as an advanced attack helicopter with canards and tail wing and the A4 label hovers above and just in front of him, it's light shining down on him and weapons fully armed.

_... only man comes to an end._

(Sequence of scenes)

Touma lands on the ground from above, wearing full body armor extending to the limbs.

The high ranking officer wearing the blue beret (now also wearing full body armor) stands atop of a helicopter pad located on the top of a skyscraper as an ongoing battle rages through West Tokyo.

Touma is shown from a different skyscraper watching the same battle.

Fragments of Touma's memory flash by, showing Academy City, the British Royalty, Misaka, Index, his classmates, and several others.

Touma lures an enemy juggernaut by jumping off a ledge with a rappel rope while the juggernaut chases after him and runs into the sights of an attack helicopter as it open fires.

Touma teams up with several police as he fist fights several thugs.

A U.S. Special Forces soldier combats against two enemy soldiers wielding katanas.

Touma skydives from an aircraft into the battle below, thunder being heard as he does so.

Touma dropkicks an enemy soldier into the perfect position for a juggernaut to send the poor soldier flying.

Touma's face is shown, covered slightly in soot as he slowly turns to look at the screen.

A tank is viewed from ground level as it fires, several attack helicopters and drones flying above.

A friendly soldier jumps from a balcony as he catches a chair that Touma passed to him, and proceeds to slam the chair down on an enemy soldier below as he lands.

Touma is seen looking out the back window of a military jeep as he and a couple soldiers try to escape the wrath of an enemy commander piloting a large armed helicopter through the streets. Missiles launch from the massive helicopter, and explosions ensue around the jeep.

**Index: Knight of a New History**

_This is how it ends._

The V-44's from the beginning pass by Touma atop of a nearby skyscraper as they approach the burning remnants of West Tokyo, with anti-air fire still present in the skies. Touma can only watch from where he stands.

_This is how the hero dies._

(End)


	2. The Beginning

**Hello! I'm now bringing the official first chapter of this story as A Certain World Superpower nears it's end (I bet you're all either hyped or tired from/of reading the trailer). I got the idea after seeing how much darker the alternate WW2 (that's right, TWO) story of ****_Festung Europa: The Anglo-American/Nazi War_**** (by Jon Kacer) was in comparison to WW3 in Index. So I decided to place Touma into this environment post war, and consider how he would react to it as time goes by. Now to read just how that happens...**

**A couple recommended soundtracks with more to come eventually...**

**"The True Rulers" from Assassin's Creed 3 as the A4 main theme**

**"Frontier at Arms" from Assassin's Creed 3 as the battle theme**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: The Beginning

_Touma was a hero. A hero, while always diving head first into trouble, always succeeded._

Touma was alone, facing against the archangel housed in the flying fortress Star of Bethlehem. After defeating Fiamma of the Right, he gave Fiamma a chance to atone, and placed him in the last escape pod on the fortress, while he faced his last enemy alone, with nothing but his right fist.

_But..._

Touma was severely injured, bleeding by the minute, and the flying fortress accelerated as it descended towards the ocean.

_For the hero, the only true conclusion is death._

Touma steers the fortress and crashes it into the Archangel Gabriel, and both fell into the ocean.

_The hero does not cower to death._

Touma climbs onto the ice shelf and lied down, no longer having the strength to do anything else.

_For that would belittle life._

Touma continued to bleed out as he lay on the ice, with nothing else but the Arctic Ocean in sight.

_The hero knows he cannot defeat danger, but for a moment, he can free others from_ _fear._

A helicopter from Academy City became visible to Touma in the snowy air, it's searchlight sweeping through the waters where the fortress crashed. More helicopters joined in as time passed, but none would find him.

_Let those left behind find hope in his sacrifice..._

As Touma closed his eyes and the snow covered his body, he began to see his life flash before his eyes. Moments with Index, Misaka, his classmates, the British Royal Family, and many others that he met and fought alongside. He cherished these moments, for they would be his last.

_Let those who knew him well speak of his undying loyalty, unstoppable persistence and when the time came, his ultimate willingness to give all..._

Many people watched on the news as the fortress sank to the bottom, and those who knew Touma would make sure his death wasn't in vain as they fought on to bring World War Three to a close.

_Legends live on, only man comes to an end._

As the last of the sun's light faded behind the ice and water, so did Touma's life as he breathed his last.

_This is how it ends. This is how the hero dies._

* * *

-Touma's Apartment, March 2013-

Touma snapped awake and immediately looked at his surroundings. It was his own room in the apartment complex, and Touma exhaled, believing that everything was just a nightmare, and he was safe and sound in his apartment in Academy City. But aside from the darkness indicating it was evening, he noticed something about the room: it looked different. It was more orderly, albeit still messy enough to prove as evidence of someone who was lazy, but there was something else. The books, furniture, appliances, they all appeared to have poorer quality than he remembered. He could remember clearly that all the belongings were high in the standards of Academy City, but now everything as it was now looked like it should have belonged in a third world country. Moreover, if Index was here, he should have been sleeping in the bath, because Index always took over the bed. Where was she?

As he began looking around, Touma noticed that the TV was on, and like everything else, also seemed to be of poor quality and older design, but at least still a flat screen. But what surprised him was the news report currently shown, specifically about China of all countries having become aggressive towards it's neighboring countries, including Japan, which provoked an alliance to form against China and it's allies. Touma remembered China being an ally in World War 3. It certainly didn't help that the next report was about increasing suspicion of the USSR, when Touma, while somewhat an idiot when it came to education, could clearly recall in history class that the USSR dissolved in 1991. And the US state of West Alaska? Where did that come from?

Touma heard someone at the door, and quickly got up when he felt a slightly painful tug on his left arm. When he looked, Touma found he was connected to an IV. He took hold of the mobile stand and started to make way to the door when it opened. At first, Touma prepared himself for anything that would barge in and try to kill him, but was relieved when he saw a familiar face. The Heaven Cancellor, or as Touma called him, the Frog-faced Doctor. Heaven Cancellor appeared to be slimmer than Touma remembered.

"Kamijou-kun. You're... awake," Cancellor said.

"Yeah, and I don't really know what's going on. What happened?" Touma said.

"Well, you were in a coma for... just over four months," Cancellor checked his watch to confirm his calculation. "You were one of the victims in a series of terrorist attacks in Japan."

"Terrorist attack?"

"Yes. A pro-China aggressor threw a grenade at a group of people. You happened to be in that group as you were walking to school; the blast put you in a severe concussion, and you later collapsed into a coma."

"Wait, wait, wait, I don't understand. That's not what I remember doing at the time."

"Pardon?"

"I was in Russia fighting Fiamma and driving a flying fortress into an archangel. There weren't even any terrorist attacks during World War 3 where I was!"

"... so that was the problem."

"What?"

"I checked your brainwaves while you were in a coma to determine your rate of recovery. Over time, I noticed that the brainwaves related to memory started changing, until your memories were that of someone else's entirely. It turns out you were living a different reality during your coma, so you don't know anything about the world."

"Okay, I think I get the idea, but what's going on, seriously?" Touma asked.

Heaven Cancellor took a deep breath in, then out.

"Kamijou-kun, what I'm about to tell you is about the reality that is very different from the one you perceived in your coma."

* * *

Touma couldn't believe what Heaven Cancellor had told him. He would learn everything in time, but for now the Heaven Cancellor told Kamijou of all the major events that have occurred in Japan. That would be enough to jog his mind as it is.

Japan was instead defeated in 1946 due to the prolonged war in Europe against Germany in World War 2, and due to the threat of Germany learning of the existence of the atomic bomb, America instead opted for firebombing the entirety of Japan until the people's morale broke. At least it was still General Douglas MacArthur who led the occupation. Because America had to devote more resources to defeating the still strong standing Germany, Japan had few devoted relief efforts, eventually becoming a third world country from the damage it had sustained. Even as it became a democracy under MacArthur, it remained in a third world status until it was finally able to earn a position in the United Nations in 2012, where it started receiving much needed economic relief efforts, and is rising out of it's third world status, with Central Tokyo in second world status and believed to enter first world by June.

But because of the poor conditions and unstable economy and government during it's third world status, Academy City never came to be, and its many great innovations were instead developed in America. There was no Kihara Family, no devoted scientists, no experiments, and no Espers, meaning everyone that had an ability in Academy City was just a normal person in this world. One wonders what happened to the Magic Side as a result. Heaven Cancellor's hospital was so crowded extra doctors were hired to go out and take care of people in their homes. As for Aleister Crowley, he instead became the leading Director in the Research and Development department at DARPA, though he's still confined in a medical tank.

Now, the nation is currently under threat from China attempting to keep Japan weakened and vulnerable through supported terrorist attacks in an effort to steal the relief resources being delivered. As such, there has been an increased military presence in Japan and school has been cancelled until further notice from the government. That pretty much sums up what's happened so far.

"I..." Touma was speechless.

"Take your time. Let your mind jog through the information."

"This is... definitely a lot to take in."

"You said the same thing when you suffered short term amnesia in a previous accident."

"The one involving a light pole?"

"Then a piece of debris, a trash can, and finally a brick wall."

"Huh, such misfortune..." The Heaven Cancellor finished disconnecting the IV and bandaging Touma's arm.

"Well, I'll leave you alone now. You should be able to leave tomorrow. Be careful out there."

"Thanks..."

As soon as the doctor left, Touma collapsed back on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, unsure of what to do. He checked his phone, which was thankfully within reach on a nearby nightstand.

"Several messages from... Shokuhou Misaki?"

A couple images of a girl with golden hair and starry eyes snapped in his mind. Upon opening a message to see what it showed, he noticed the text was written in a way that indicated an intimate relationship.

"I can barely remember anything though... I guess I'll figure it out tomorrow."

With this thought in mind, he drifted into sleep. Unnoticed, a figure peeking through a window went away to give a report.

In another place, Aleister Crowley watched from a viewpoint as America's latest project neared completion, and would soon vastly improve the Prompt Global Strike System.

* * *

-The next day-

Touma woke up drowsy, and late in the morning. Upon looking on the clock he shot up to get dressed for school, but quickly remembered from the doctor that the government cancelled school until further notice, due to the terrorist attacks. So instead, he dressed up in casual clothing, and went outdoors.

The first thing that he noticed were tanks. Heavy duty, semi autonomous, 5th generation modded Abrams tanks capable of wiping out whole armored battalions. There was a pair every 500 feet or so patrolling the streets, with four smaller, light drone tanks and several soldiers in full body armor extending to the limbs as escort. The body armor is based off the TALOS concept, developed to protect the entire body, with built in motors for a degree of enhancement and ease of movement, as well as nanotechnology for exceptional precise healing of minor injuries. It can be further modified with a powered exoskeleton for multiplied strength and additional protection. And the fighters flying above? They looked like they were taken right out of the movie _Stealth_. Increased military presence? They looked like they were expecting a full-on invasion.

Nevertheless, Touma considered being careful and made his way through the city, in which instead of being Academy City, was rather just another district within West Tokyo, which Touma confirmed for himself after looking at a city map. Throughout the city, many of the structures resembled a third world economy, with disorderly wires, older cars, fewer skyscrapers, and people casually crossing any part of the street and being completely ignored by police, with some people carrying a load of goods on their backs and selling said goods to drivers during a red light. But he also noticed some things were the same as back in Academy City, such as certain stores, schools, and commercial companies.

Deciding to explore, he found A Certain High School, still built in the same spot on the hills, though it's infrastructure was of an older, but still modern design. But be it as it may, the government said school was closed, so he decided wisely and didn't explore any further. He made his way back, passing by a plastic model resembling a flying wing aircraft. He eventually reached a peculiar Victorian-era building, with a notable symbol that he immediately recognized. The symbol of Tokiwadai Middle School. Of course, misfortune would have it that he bumped into someone as he wasn't looking. But was it really misfortune that he bumped into a certain golden haired girl?

"Ah sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Touma said while reaching out to help the girl up.

"..." The girl was silent. Touma was about to ask again he saw the girls face. She had tears in her eyes.

"... Prince?" She finally said.

"Shokuhou..."

By a chance of fate, Shokuhou Misaki found her prince awake and well after his four month coma, immediately hugging him for what seemed like an eternity. For some reason, Touma felt that this would be the only happy moment he would have for a long time. After settling down, the two sat down on a bench and Misaki asked about his well being, which led to her explaining their relationship with each other, having dated for around half a year.

* * *

-Somewhere in the United States-

The US was vast in power, living up to it's name as the sole superpower of the world. With 65 percent of the world's total military force, advanced technology and unilateral control of space, it was the leading nation of the alliance that formed post-World War 2.

Currently, their experimental test-bed airborne fortress _Spirit Blade_ flew over the weapons test site in the middle of a desert.

"Deactivating meta-material cloaking device," the pilot said.

The invisible airborne fortress shimmered and revealed itself from nose to tail. It had a 500 meter wingspan, 4 massive turbojet engines at the rear end of the wings (2 on each side), and the wings had the overall resemblance of the B-2 stealth bomber, except for the outer wing which extended further like a B-1. It also had a prototype fusion reactor to power the craft as well as a secondary reactor to power the weapons. The weapons consisted of 8 triple railgun arrays (4 arranged top and bottom near the central body), 20 pulse laser batteries, a small arsenal of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles (top and bottom respectively), several CIWS guarding critical areas and weakpoints on the prototype airborne fortress (such as engines, the cockpit and weapon bays), 80 MQ-47A interceptor drones docked on the underside of the wings, 30 cruise missile bays in two rows of 15, and 10 nuclear missile bays arranged 2x5 between the two cruise missile rows. To an extent, the electromagnetic shield could also tear any fighters apart that came to close. These were all added as the prototype tested more and more experimental weapons.

As the airborne fortress continued to fly over the desert, anti-air fire of tracers and missiles alike rose from the ground and struck the fortress, but because of the active electromagnetic shielding, bullets only bounced off the craft and missiles only caused damage comparable to a pebble being thrown at a brick wall. A small area just behind the nose of the fortress began to glow, then suddenly a beam as bright as the sun shot down towards the ground, engulfing everything in plasma and flame as the very air was ignited and became a natural incinerator. As the smoke cleared, everything beneath the fortress was reduced to vapor and molten sand, which hardened into glass.

"That is the biggest barbecue I have ever seen," the captain said as he viewed a screen, as the cockpit didn't actually have windows, but cameras embedded within several ports in the armor. Down below, a small bunker contained several people viewing from a safe distance.

"That concludes our test," a scientist said.

"This is going to make a fine addition to the development of Project Guardian," General William Richardson said. "Seriously, how does Director Crowley make all this impressive stuff?"

"I honestly have no clue myself, sir. He's a genius who just seems to know what's needed to make that little sci-fi addition a reality, along with his various PhD's in the STEM topics."

"Well, this is the last addition we can make to Project Guardian. Anything more, and CIS will start getting suspicious. I'll inform the government."

* * *

**And that concludes the first chapter. Be sure to tell me what you think of the story! Also, feel free to ask questions.**

**Laters!**


	3. Catching Up

**I am very sorry to make you all wait this long for a chapter. Answering the Reviews...**

**Sirius 962: While I am aware of the psychology, it would be very difficult to implement into my story and I likely wouldn't make progress otherwise. As for the situation, the people in this world are pretty much under the trope "Conditioned to Accept Horror," which you will find out why later into the story. And if you read the book Festung Europa, which I'm basing this fanfic off of, you'll definitely understand why.**

**As for Touma being in his dorm, Heaven Cancellor has far more patients in this universe than in canon due to the broken economy, so his hospital tends to be full to the brim (especially since the advanced medicines of Academy City don't exist here). And knowing Touma's behavior, he'll just power through his injuries and try to get out early like he always does in canon. **

**As for the phone, well... who would even think of stealing when the city is crawling with military at the time?**

**awardedall: Thanks.**

**WOW: Nice to know.**

**Fortitude501: I wasn't even aware of that coincidence. I kinda feel proud of myself for that.**

**On to the story! We'll be focusing more on the A4 world this time. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Catching Up

-Western Tokyo, Nighttime-

Night soon set upon the city of Tokyo. The skies were currently clear and traffic was lighter. Civilians checked out of work and went home. In a few minutes, the new curfew set up by the military would take effect. It seemed that it would be another peaceful night. But, it was far from it. The curfew was in actuality, a ploy set by the military to weed out any terrorist cells in the dark of night, without the population knowing as to avoid panic.

On the roof of a skyscraper, a helicopter departed, leaving behind a single soldier. A soldier who is considered one of the best in the Special Forces. He adjusted the straps on his helmet, then brought out a set of night vision goggles and attached them to the provided slot. While he normally preferred the more advanced visor provided in the TALOS suit he would wear in the battlefield, it wasn't necessary as the night vision goggles had the necessary upgrades for his current mission. He put down the case he was holding, entered the pin, and the case opened to reveal he parts for an advanced sniper rifle, for which he would use for the first part of the mission. The NV goggles were for the second part. Of course, he usually didn't operate alone. He would have a spotter with him, but today wasn't that day.

He zoomed in on an abandoned building about half a mile down, where there were several armed thugs inside guarding a drug dealer. A nearby door opened, and the thugs aimed their rifles at the sound, only to lower them when they saw a man in a business suit enter with several armed men of his own pushing several large crates in. Taking a look back, the sniper noticed the drug dealer had several crates of his own.

"Let them start the deal," Command ordered, "We need to confirm our intel about the situation."

"Wilco, standing by," the Sniper said.

The Sniper zoomed in and waited for the deal to start. A spy drone was sneaked into the room, a little spherical robot with cameras placed evenly on the body. It silently rolled up the wall and onto the ceiling, with several cameras giving a proper view of the room and the individuals inside, the guards being none the wiser to ever notice. The Sniper linked with the drone and started listening in on the conversation, while several tanks and infantry squads remained hidden in alleyways. If the intercept went awry, well... they could always take down the structure with one of the larger airborne war drones patrolling in the night. The building was abandoned and scheduled for demolition after all. Only that the demolition would be done ahead of schedule.

There will be peace, even if it must be enforced at the end of a sword.

"Do you have the supplies?" the business man asked.

"I could ask the same about the weapons," the drug dealer responded. "But I'll give you a sample."

The dealer ordered for one of the crates to be opened, and two of his lackeys brought out crowbars and began prying open one of the smaller crates. Once it was partially opened, the dealer pulled out a couple rations and a first aid kit, which the spy drone scanned while unnoticed. The results showed that these were supplies sent from the Philippines to aid in relief efforts in the still recovering city of Hiroshima, which was still struggling with essential agriculture due to the firebombings by the Allies in 1946, having led to much of the land being unusable from the large amounts of ash and unclean water. The business man's analyst confirmed that the supplies were genuine.

"Alright, you have my attention. Show them the weapons."

One of the other crates was opened for the dealer to see, revealing mass produced assault rifles, explosives, and body armor confirmed to be supplied by China as they did with the Pro-Reunification movement in the administrative regions of Germany some time back. The lieutenants back in Command had the feeling that sending so much at this rate meant that China was planning something big. It also made sense for the stolen supplies; soldiers needed to be well nourished if they wanted a fighting chance. And the soldiers in China weren't exactly what you call "well-nourished."

"Shipment confirmed," the Sniper said, "Permission to terminate."

"Copy, permission granted," Command responded. "Take out both leaders."

The Sniper steadied his aim. The cross hairs of the advanced scope hovered over the dealer, then the sight locked on and the word 'TERMINATE' appeared. The Sniper held his breath, then pulled the trigger. The bullet was shot out of the rifle. With data on the exact position already implemented, the bullet altered it's course, ensuring that it would not miss. The dealer didn't have time to blink. One moment, the dealer was making his way out, the next, the walls were sprayed red and his body tumbled down the stairs. Not two seconds later, the business man that brought the firearms found a hole where his heart was meant to be. In confusion, the thugs present either pushed each other down the stairs or fired wildly in the direction where the bullet was believed to have come from. But the Sniper had already left, activating his NV goggles and making his way to the street, taking position in the alleyway and switching to a submachine gun.

Down on the bottom floor, the two large doors at the entrance were suddenly blasted inwards into the room, and a war drone followed by several marines entered the building. The war drone itself started with a raised chassis on 4 "limbs" with spherical wheels at the end, for flexible traversing; the turret had an array of weapons, with a rotary cannon for it's primary, an anti-air rocket launcher, and the grenade launcher that was used to breach the door. The war drone fired the rotary cannon, unleashing a torrent of bullets that cut down the thugs in droves. The first few marines checked the area, finishing off any survivors.

"Clear!" the lead marine called out.

"Move to the next floor," the captain ordered, "You're authorized to use Hunter UCAVs for support."

"Roger that. Moving to the second floor."

The marines moved to the second floor and were immediately met with a storm of bullets, killing several in the front. One of the marines started speaking to a radio while two more marines began to return fire. The thugs on the other hand were in a complete panic, seeing that they were up against marines and not the usual riot police or SWAT forces lent by the ever standing unilateral power they knew as the A4.

"What the hell!? How did they find out!?" One of the thugs asked.

"Dammit, we should have stuck to the alleys. I knew those drones had some form of advanced surveillance."

"Find every last one of them!" a marine shouted, "I don't care if they're dead or alive!"

The surface war drone used it's limbs to climb up the stairs and took the front, deploying a foldable ballistic shield to protect the marines from stray fire. It fired the rotary cannon again, forcing the thugs to take cover behind the reinforced concrete walls. One of the thugs took out an RPG and aimed at the drone. Firing, he watched the rocket hit the drone, engulfing it in an explosion. The smoke cleared, showing the drone still active, but it wasn't moving and sparks would show every few seconds. Then he heard it charging up before it started moving again, though it's weapons were still offline.

"Head upstairs! It's stunned!"

"Move!"

Meanwhile, the pilot for the drone was typing rapidly on the keyboard in an attempt to restart the weapon systems.

"How much longer?" the Commander asked.

"3 minutes, tops," the pilot answered.

"Keep working on it. Operator Jenkins, call in a Hunter UCAV."

Up in the sky, one of said Hunters was on patrol with many others in various predesignated flight paths. The Hunter UCAV is a war drone modeled similar to a predator drone, however, what stands out is that it is larger, being around the same size as a V-280 Valor, and it used four jet engines for VTOL, one on each wing and two blended with the tail. It was currently surveying West Tokyo when it received a new order. The Hunter immediately diverted from it's path and flew just below Mach 1 to reach the abandoned building where the battle between the marines and dealers was currently taking place. The Hunter did a quick scan, and found the largest number of thugs just beneath the rooftop. It flew down to their level, and the thugs immediately noticed and fired on it. Unfortunately for them, the Hunter drone is immune to small arms fire. It spun up it's pair of 20mm chainguns and riddled the top floor with bullets, leaving no survivors.

The marines barged in only to find the room covered with crimson and bullet holes. The Hunter UCAV was just outside, maintaining it's altitude with it's VTOL capabilities.

"Clear. No survivors," the Captain said.

"Roger that," Command responded. "Get the place cleaned up before dawn."

"Yes, sir," the Captain responded.

The Captain then turned to the marines present.

"Call a cleanup crew. No civilian is to know of this security breach. If anyone asks, use the cover story for a drug bust on the local yakuza."

"And what of the protesters?" a lieutenant asked.

"I will handle that personally. In the meantime, I was informed a Certain Recruit has recently woken up from his coma. I'll be heading off now."

* * *

-Touma's Apartment, 4:12 AM, the next morning, March 2013-

Touma currently stood leaning on the railing, overlooking the city as a patrolling drone, or as he heard from civilians, a Hunter, passed over the blandly colored skyscrapers. Despite having woken from a coma with what was seemingly false memories, he still had dreams based on those memories that he could faintly remember. They were a blur to him, and from what he could remember of the dream he had, he saw two figures above him, but he couldn't make out any details aside from one having brown and the other having yellow. Then on his right, black started showing, until it passed across to his left, covering him in pitch black. Then he woke up. Since then, it's has troubled his mind.

"Prince?" Misaki called out.

Touma turned around to see his girlfriend, Misaki, in golden pajamas matching the color of her hair. She was rubbing her eyes in a manner that Touma wouldn't deny as cute, though her hair was a bit tangled.

"Ah, Shokuhou," Touma responded.

"You don't have to be formal with me," Misaki started, "However, you do seem troubled. Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no, just a dream that mind is clung onto."

"Dreams can be troubling depending on what it was." Misaki hugged Touma from behind. He felt his tensions ease in a strange but comforting way. He had a strange feeling to let such an event continue, despite his bad luck. He wondered, did he actually have bad luck?

"I guess that's true."

"Well, I should've expected this. You have a tendency of waking up early."

"It definitely feels normal."

"Heaven Cancellor told me that your habits are key to regaining your manner in life. Nevertheless, I will guide you every step of the way, my dear Prince."

"I know you will."

_There are some things I'm still wondering about... What happened to Europe?_

* * *

-The British Commonwealth, around the same time-

"Governor Evans, we've been expecting you," the security guard said.

The guard tapped on a screen, and the gate in front of Evan's car opened, making way to a path to the entrance of the Parliament Office. The car made it's way down the path, and stopped in front of the entrance.

"There is currently a light rain outside, sir," The driver said, "I would recommend taking an umbrella."

"... If you say so," Governor Evans said.

Evans opened the door and got out, taking a look around before opening his umbrella. He reached back inside and brought out a briefcase, before closing the door and waving the car off. Walking to the entrance, two extra guards were present, before they moved from their posts and escorted him into the building. Each guard carried a light assault rifle, and wore kevlar with extra protection to the upper arm, and had either had a beret or a carbon fiber reinforced helmet for headwear. They also had an armband with a security label on the left arm. Continuing down the hallway, he saw several works of art that were saved from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle during the V1 and V2 missile attacks in mid World War 2. Two more guards at a pair of doors turned and set their keycards on separate scanners at the same time, unlocking the doors, before opening them for the governor. He made his way inside, and the guards closed the doors behind him, hearing the lock activate with a loud, heavy click.

"Governor Evans, it's good to see you," greeted Prime Minister Richardson.

"Same to you," Evans replied. "I apologize for having to cancel our earlier meeting."

"I completely understand. The former French region of Calais-Picardy is not an easy one to manage."

"Indeed. The civil unrest throughout Europe has led to a lockdown."

"Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"Please."

The Prime Minister snapped twice, and a servant made his way to the kitchen. The Prime Minister then sighed.

"First the insurrection in Stettin last year, then civil unrest throughout Europe, and now China appears to be going on the offensive to take Japan."

"Knowing the conditions, we shouldn't be surprised. Much of Western Europe is a chemical, biological and radioactive wasteland and Eastern Europe isn't much better, even with aid provided from Western Russia. And China is nearing it's population limit. French civilians are constantly gathering at the border of Calais-Picardy for food, medicine and other necessities."

"Perhaps we should take the issue to the other members of the UN..."

"They're already busy with making sanctions against China. Perhaps we could receive assistance from the United States? President Orris has plenty of ships to spare."

"Of course, of course. You know, sometimes I believe you should've been the man to take the chair of Prime Minister. You're certainly more gifted in leading a nation than I am."

"Perhaps in the future, such a time will come."

"Indeed. Now, for other matters..."

* * *

-San Francisco, United States-

The Colonel watched as the massive winged outline of Guardian 07 departed towards the red horizon signifying the coming of the rising sun. Above, Guardian 01 flew adjacent to the coast, the flying wing having been colored black with red highlights, and a diagonal dark-red square with four white stars within it's black background, set on the wingtip like most planes of the U.S. Air Force. Behind him, a Black Hawk stood by with two SFOD-D soldiers guarding it. He turned and made his way towards the Black Hawk, putting on a blue beret. He pulled out his radio and spoke.

"Inform Command to have a plane to Tokyo ready at 0600 tomorrow. A war is coming."

* * *

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